Third-Century Patras: Resilience and Urban Adaptation in Roman Greece
Abstract
This paper approaches third-century Patras through the lens of lived response to disruption, moving beyond explanations that privilege the cause of damage. Its originality lies in assembling dispersed rescue-excavation records into an address-based, georeferenced gazetteer and using it to examine how urban space was maintained and reconfigured following episodes of loss. The discussion centres on three archaeologically visible responses: repair and rebuilding; the continued use, reinstatement, or rerouting of roads and drainage; and the insertion of craft or small-scale production into domestic settings, often indicated by workshop fittings and water-storage/management installations. These observations are plotted in a GIS against the modern street plan to identify concentrations of damage and recovery and to explore their relationship to major routes, the harbour zone, and the monumental core. The resulting pattern points to uneven impact but sustained occupation, with continuity achieved through practical re-use and spatial reorganisation rather than wholesale abandonment.